Some machine tools are used for machining plate-type materials, in particular sheet metals, or sheet-metal plates. In known machine tools, the machining of the plate-type material is often effected with the use of a cutting beam, such as a laser beam. During such machining, workpieces of differing sizes are produced, as well as residual or waste parts. Very large residual parts can be disposed of, for example, through a flap in the machine base of the machine tools, into a collecting receptacle. After the residual part has been fully detached from the plate-type material, or the sheet-metal plate, such a flap swivels downwards, such that the residual part can slide away downwards. Alternatively, for large residual parts, provision can also be made whereby these parts can be removed by suction extraction or manually removed. Very small residual or waste parts can likewise be disposed of in an operationally reliable manner, since these parts can be drawn out of the sheet-metal plate by suction extraction. These methods, however, may not be as effective for the discharge of medial, or middle-sized, residual parts and of residual parts that have a complicated geometry, since these residual parts often cannot be disposed of via the flap solely through gravity. Suction extraction likewise may not possible, or may only be possible to a limited extent, since these residual parts can become caught on one another. Moreover, such medial residual parts often have an asymmetric center of gravity, such that these parts can become caught in the workpiece during suction extraction.
In some cases, provision can be made for disposing of medial, or middle sized residual parts and of residual parts that have a complicated geometry, whereby these parts are initially held by a micro-web, or micro-joint, to the workpiece (e.g., sheet-metal plate). Such a micro-joint is a small web, usually having a web width of between 0.5 mm and 1 mm, which fixes the residual part to the cut-out contour or sub-area of the sheet-metal plate. Then, depending on the geometry of the workpiece to which the residual part is joined by the micro-joint, an ejector tool having a square die or an ejector tool having a round die is used. The ejector tool typically includes a single punching tool that includes a punch, which projects, relative to a basic body, in the direction of a die. This punch can be positioned in differing punching positions through manual pre-setting of the basic body. Assigned to this cutting tool is a die having an ejection opening, which is larger by a multiple than the punching area of the punch. A square die can be used for straight contours on the sub-area to which the micro-joint is attached. If the micro-joint is attached to a curved contour of the sub-area, a round die can be used instead of the square die. Thus, depending on the particular counters of the sub-area to which the micro-joint is attached, it may be necessary to change the ejector tools, and it may be necessary to change the dies having ejection openings of differing sizes, in order to dispose of residual parts of differing sizes through the die. Moreover, it may be necessary to manually pre-set the position of the punch for a subsequent ejection process.